Windows 98 is undoubtedly one of the most popular Windows versions to date and, Windows 98 no longer receives updates and fixes from Microsoft. The software giant released Windows 98 operating system on June 25, 1998, exactly 20 years ago from today. Windows 95 arrived in August 1995 and introduced the Start button and taskbar, and it also introduced a new concept of “plug and play”. Windows 98 was a successor to Windows 95, and it brought Outlook Express, Internet Explorer 11, Windows Address Book, Microsoft Chat, NetShow Player and other improvements. Windows 98 Second Edition was released in 1999, and NetShow Player was replaced by Windows Media Player 6.2. Just like Windows 95, Microsoft’s Windows 98 was also a major upgrade, and it introduced the back and forward navigation buttons and the address bar in Windows Explorer. With Windows 98, Microsoft also improved the USB support, and it’s one of the reasons that led to widespread adoption of USB hubs and USB mice. Read more on OUR FORUM.

Microsoft is kicking off Redstone 5 Bug Bash starting today and as a part of Bug Bash, Microsoft is also inviting Windows Insider to visit the Redmond campus in Washington. Called Insiders2Campus contest, it will allow Insiders to participate in a contest during the Bug Bash and file feedback with Microsoft. The contest starts at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on June 21, 2018, and ends at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on August 15, 2018. During this time, Microsoft will hold two Bug Bashes, one starting June 22nd and the other starting July 27th. There are a few easy tasks that participants need to do to participate in the contest. You can head below to take a look at all the tasks. Participate in one of two Windows 10 (Redstone 5) bug bashes: Windows 10 bug bashes are a chance to provide feedback on specific Windows Insider Preview features and functions — by participating in ‘Quests’ in the Feedback Hub designed by our Windows engineers. Microsoft will be selecting 10 Windows Insider who will be flying to Seattle and visit the Microsoft Redmond campus. Not only this, Microsoft will also be covering the total trip cost including food and logging for all the Windows Insiders.Follow this on OUR FORUM.

The Supreme court has just delivered a new judgment that prohibits warrantless seizure of location records by the police. The case, Carpenter v. United States was decided on 5 – 4 margin, a slim one, om the issue of whether a user could expect a reasonable expectation of privacy regarding location records held by a third party. This would trigger fourth amendment protections if the court ruled in the affirmative. “Given the unique nature of cell phone location records, the fact that the information is held by a third party does not by itself overcome the user’s claim to Fourth Amendment protection,” said Chief Justice John Roberts in his delivery of the majority opinion. It was ruled that the Location Information obtained by police should generally be a considered search — as it is private information — triggering probable cause warrant requirement to obtain such records. Location records are extremely sensitive, and chronicle “a person’s physical presence compiled every day, every moment, over several years.” said the court. “This is a groundbreaking victory for Americans’ privacy rights in the digital age.“The Supreme Court has given privacy law an update that it has badly needed for many years, finally bringing it in line with the realities of modern life.,” the ACLU said today. Read the Supreme Court decision on OUR FORUM.

The intentions of and delivery method of Mylobot are unknown - but it appears to be the work of a sophisticated attacker who could deliver trojans, ransomware and more. A new malware campaign is roping systems into a botnet and providing the attackers with complete control over infected victims, plus the ability to deliver additional payloads, putting the victims' devices at risk of Trojans, keyloggers, DDoS attacks and other malicious schemes. The malware comes equipped with three different layers of evasion techniques which have been described by the researchers at Deep Instinct who uncovered the malware as complex, rare and "never seen in the wild before". Dubbed Mylobot after a researcher's pet dog, the origins of the malware and its delivery method are currently unknown, but it appears to have a connection to Locky ransomware -- one of the most prolific forms of malware during last year. The sophisticated nature of the botnet suggests that those behind it aren't amateurs, with Mylobot incorporating various techniques to avoid detection. Follow this on OUR FORUM.

Microsoft has today released a new Windows 10 Preview Build of the SDK to be used in conjunction with Windows 10 Insider Preview (Build 17692 or greater). The Preview SDK Build 17692 contains bug fixes and under-development changes to the API surface area. The build works in conjunction with previously released SDKs and Visual Studio 2017. The Windows SDK will now formally only be supported by Visual Studio 2017 and greater and this build of the Windows SDK will only install on Windows 10 Insider Preview. The build brings MSIX support, meaning developers can now package their applications as MSIX. These applications can be installed and run on any device with 17682 build or later. MSIX is however not currently supported by the App Certification Kit nor the Microsoft Store at this time. Learn more and download from OUR FORUM.

Apple's macOS surreptitiously creates and caches thumbnails for images and other file types stored on password-protected / encrypted containers (hard drives, partitions), according to Wojciech Reguła and Patrick Wardle, two macOS security experts. The problem is that these cached thumbnails are stored on non-encrypted hard drives, in a known location and can be easily retrieved by malware or forensics tools, revealing some of the content stored on encrypted containers. On macOS, these thumbnails are created by Finder and QuickLook. Finder is the default macOS file explorer app, similar to Windows Explorer. Whenever a user navigates to a new folder, Finder automatically loads icons for the files located in those folders. For images, these icons are gradually replaced by thumbnails that show a preview of the image at a small scale. But in a recent macOS version, Apple has added a new feature to Finder called QuickLook. This feature allows users to hold down the Space key while having a file selected and view an image-like preview of the document's content. Apple devs created this feature to allow users to preview files with similar names and determine which one they want to open. Follow along at OUR FORUM.